The Beauty of Touch

Despite five years of university education in osteopathy, touch was never explored.  Instead we learnt the mechanics of movement and developed the skill of performing osteopathic techniques.  I graduated feeling that something was missing, a sense of wanting a deeper connection.  Working in a complementary health clinic I was fortunate to receive many different treatments.  Zero balancing seemed to feel right.  A subtle bodywork, it also calmed my mind and renewed my vitality.  Exhausted from such a long training, I felt a pull to train as a zero balancer.  The education was so vastly different.  Small classes, touch feedback, practicals outweighing lectures, mentoring, reflective practice.  Finally I had a language for touch- and the specific touch that is used in zero balancing resonated.  Interface touch addresses the structure and energy of the body.  Unlike streaming or channeling which is used in many other energy work, there is a clarity of boundary- preventing the practitioner from being drained.  Yet there's an elegance about the interaction that's very much present.  No need for a white coat here.  Zero balancing is paradoxical in its nature- it addresses both energy and structure.  It's subtle and yet profound.  It is spiritual yet very grounded.  In today's world of constant connection through various media, there's a definite gap that seems to be widening.  For me touch is essential for real contact.  These days I enjoy the use of touch in my treatments and recommend it is brought into everyday life- through hugs, self-massage, kneading bread and stroking.  In Pablo Neruda's words, 'Hands make the world each day'.